Snared
by Graywhisper
Summary: An extremely stubborn Mudkip breaks the rules and wanders where no other Mudkip evolution dares to go. As her reward, she gets Caught, how nice. To top it all off, the Trainer is also a complete noob who can't make heads-or-tails of what she's really doing. Wonderful. Stubborn Mudkip, Nooby Trainer- Trouble, as you may well guess. It's not meant to be serious at all, mind you. :3
1. Caught

**HERE WE GO! :D Now, I understand a Pokémon fanfic might being a different audience than my usual Warriors ones, but I'm just as pumped for this one as I would be for any other story. :3 Let's do this! **

**Prologue**

Slowly, I slipped from the cover of the hedges my mother had warned me about. I would prove to her that I was brave, braver than she was, so much so that I would do something even some of the full-grown Swamperts were too scared to do.

Carefully, I lifted one of my feet and hovered it uncertainly over the path I was always warned to stay away from. I slowly settled it on the path, small rocks rolling beneath my toes. A Pidgey chirped in the trees behind me. Nothing else happened. No explosions. No earthquakes. Just normal scenery. Yeah, this was _so _scary. I stepped all of the way out of the hedges, my small weight crunching fragile rocks.

I smirked and looked around, feeling extremely proud of myself. The rest of the Mudkip and Marshtomp and Swampert were all too scared for their own good. There was nothing scary about this place.

Then there was a yell and a crunch and a blinding pain in my head, unexpected weight on my back making me lose my balance and stumble forward. Sharp pain dug into my back, going through my soft scales, and I shook off my attacker, moving forward, disoriented, unaware that I was going in the middle of the path, not away from it.

I can't hear much, but I hear a faint yell. "Come on, Blaze!" A strange voice says. "Get up! We need to catch this Mudkip!"

Catch me? I stumbled forward faster.

"We?" An irritated, feminine voice growled. "It's _me _doing all the work."

I tripped and fell forward on my face. The world seemed to rock around me, gravel rolling beneath my paws rolling. There was a strange sound, like rushing air, and a hot blast of air enclosed me. I stayed where I was, the heat strangely nice for a moment, before it began to burn me. I scrambled to my paws and hopped clear of the heat, opening my eyes that I hadn't realized were closed and spinning around.

Flames billowing out of her mouth like a cloud quickly extinguished as the Flareon closed it, hard eyes glinting as she fixed her gaze on me. I had no idea what to do, or how to react at the Flareon lunged for me, pinning me down, the same sharp claws digging into the even softer scales on my chest.

I looked up into the Flareon's face, and a prick of anger burned deep inside me. This Pokémon had attacked me without a speck of reason. I'd done nothing to her, and now I was scratched, burned, and bruised. I mean, I've been Pecked by enough Pidgeys to know that aggravating Pokémon doesn't pay well, but I'd done literally nothing. My anger built slowly, but steadily, and shaped itself into a sort of bubble. The bubble made me braver, and I didn't feel any fear, even making me brave enough to look back up at the Flareon and glare. I opened my mouth to give a biting retort, but to my pleasant surprise, a high-pressure blast of water flew out instead, hitting Flareon square in the face and sending her flying. She smacked face-first into a tree-trunk and slid to the bottom, Fainted.

I rolled over on my stomach, the sudden blast of water leaving me utterly exhausted. A jolt hit me, and I felt suddenly proud. I defeated a Flareon! I learned how to use a different move besides Tackle! Water Gun! At least, that's what I thought it was. That's what my mother had told me using Water Gun would feel like. I smile, looking up to find the sky and instead finding myself face to face with a furious human.

I knew well what a human looked like. Mother had always told me about them, and about how they were the worst danger you could find out there in the forest. She told me how some of them carried devices that could Capture Pokémon, which she said was the worst thing they could possibly do to you. They'd abduct you with Pokeballs, she called them, little round balls with a red top and a white bottom and a button in the middle. She'd told me if I found a human, to get up and run the opposite direction as fast as I could. Except for, now I was exhausted and could barely muster the energy to look up.

So I slowly, slowly, began to push myself backwards slowly, towards the hedge, my eyes holding hers. Of course, she wasn't going to let me go so easily.

"No!" She cried, rummaging around in her bag. "You, stay! I'm going to Catch you! I need to!" She pulled out a feared Pokeball, and my breath caught in my throat. I started scooting away faster.

"No no no!" She dropped her bag and the Capture device and made a quick move towards me. I could do nothing to resist as she picked me up by my hind foot, dangling me and shaking me while I was upside-down. "If you can't stay put, I'm going to have to make you!"  
If I hadn't been in such dire situations, I would have snickered and rolled my eyes. As it was, if I had been watching this scene, I would have been rolling on the floor with laughter. Now, being put in this situation, I could do nothing but stare with wide eyes, the blood rushing to my head making me dizzy.

She leaned down and picked up the dropped Pokeball, making a big show about it.

"This!" She said, brandishing the feared thing in front of my face with wide gestures. I noticed a tiny flame design, right above the button. "Is a Pokeball. It's the place where I keep my starter, that unconscious Flareon over there. Her name's Blaze. I can't believe she couldn't make you… what's the word… Faint!"

I rolled my eyes, the foot she was holding me with starting to go numb. If I had to be Caught by a human, couldn't I have been Caught by an intelligent one? I knew by now this is what was going to happen. I let out a gusty sigh.

"You probably don't know anything, little Mudkip." She flounced. "I'm a Trainer, and my job is to Capture Pokemon and train them up to be the best they can be."

You forgot the part where you rip them out of their homes first.

"Blaze is my starter. My mum went out and Caught her, fresh from the woods, and gave her to me. She let me name her and everything! Blaze is super strong, and I don't know why you managed to make her… Faint." The Trainer shrugged. "But watch this."

The Trainer held out the same Pokeball with bravado and pointed the button at the Fainted Flareon. She clicked the button, and a read laser-like beam of light shot out and engulfed the Pokemon, retreating and leaving nothing at the base of the tree. I blinked, amazed.

She smiled and tucked the Pokeball neatly back into her bag, slinging it back over her shoulder. She dipped her hand quickly inside, and brought out another Pokeball with a tiny lightning design where the flame was. "Inside here is a Shinx, the very first Pokemon I Caught." She shook it for emphasis. "He's not very strong yet, but he's cute. I named him Lightning."

I watched emotionlessly, my foot actually starting to hurt. The human was interesting me, no matter how much I wanted to deny it.

She put the Pokeball away, picking out another one with no tiny design on it. I gasped, a fluttering inside of me guessing what she was about to say.

"Those are the only members of my team. I only have two Pokemon, and I was hoping to recruit you as my third." I looked at her in disbelief. Then I started struggling, arms waving around furiously. "Hey!" She cried. "Stop…moving!" She was struggling to keep hold of me. I felt my leg slipping out of her grip and suddenly the gravel path was rushing towards me. A sharp pain cracked through my head and pushed me into darkness.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I wasn't ready to wake up, but I realized I wasn't awake. I was half-awake, my awareness sliding and slipping. Then I became aware of an odd pressure, around my hold mind, my being, and I didn't like it. I pushed back, but I was exhausted, I had no energy. I pushed with all my mental, focusing, abilities, but it simply wasn't enough. My thoughts went spiraling off in every which direction, my focus spinning and the pressure completely squashing every rebellious thought I had, shoving me into the comforting nothingness of complete, dreamless, unconsciousness.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Come on out, Miss Mudkip."

It was the first thing I heard, from the voice of the Trainer, I remembered.

There was an odd feeling, like I was expanding quickly and condensing back into my normal self. I opened my eyes, staring at blue paws thankfully. I was still that same. Maybe it was just a dream, but that voice… It had seemed so real.

"I'm glad you're back to healthy!" The sing-song voice came again. I looked up, straight into the face of that Trainer.

I couldn't help it. I leaped backwards. She frowned, holding out a Pokeball at my eye level.

"Look!" She cried. "I even got a tear-shaped sticker to put on your Pokeball!"

I stared at her, I stared at it. I can't believe it didn't make me feel any better.

"Okay, maybe this will help." She rummaged in that same bag I remembered, pulling out two Pokeballs, one with the flame design and the other with the lightning bolt. "Blaze! Lightning! Come out and show this Mudkip that life isn't all bad!"

Tiny lightning bolts and flames filled the air, and when they cleared, the Flareon and a Shinx stood side-by-side. I glared at the Flareon, the gathering of the energy bubble becoming automatic. I fired the Water Gun at Blaze, hitting my unsuspecting target straight in the chest and slamming her against a… wall? A brick wall?

The Trainer scolded me as I walked past the again Fainted Flareon and the Shinx, who jumped out of my way in a hurry, interested in the brick wall. I noticed the ground was smooth under my feet, like stone. I looked up, hoping to see the sky and instead finding shadow-filled rafters.

Of course. I'd been Caught.

**Well? I thought it turned out rather well. :D Review, please! I did put a lot of real effort into this, so yeah, it would be nice to know what you guys out there think. :3 By the way, there's no death in Pokemon. Just as a side note. **

_**-Graywhisper**_


	2. Getting Started?

**So comes chapter 1 of this new story! Just as a reminder, no deaths, no dying. Sorry. :P **

**Magek: Nope, Blaze will **_**not **_**be dying. And I will accept your character, sure. I didn't tell you of this fanfic cause I wanted to honestly know what you thought of it, and also I didn't want you to expect it. It's not as good then, so I won't be giving you any spoilers, either. **

**ExplosionsAreFun: Thank you! :D Blaze doesn't get much mention in this chapter, but she is an important character, so don't worry. **

**Also, this odd region the characters are in is a mix of all the regions, so any Pokemon can appear here. I'll be making up town names and other stuff, too, so don't worry. **

**Chapter 1**

I didn't know what I was expecting when I turned around, the room soaked, the Flareon fainted, the Shinx scared to death in the corner, and the Trainer herself with my Pokeball dropped on the carpet in shock. Seriously, maybe some pity, or something? This girl _had _just wrecked my life. Of course, the life of a Caught Pokemon doesn't work that way, not at all.

"Seriously?!" She yelled suddenly, jumping up and waving her arms, shouting at me. "Aqua is gonna be _so _mad! This is her house, not mine, not yours!"

I looked at her. Half of the things she was saying made no sense to me whatsoever, and honestly, I couldn't care less. I looked to the Shinx, who looked back at me, and stayed in his corner.

"Don't be scared of me." I said, kind of feeling sorry for the guy. Besides, I wasn't going to hurt him. "You can't really blame me for hitting that Flareon with the Water Gun. She took me surprise when I was all alone in the woods!"

The Shinx stood up. "It wasn't Blaze's fault. She had to attack you. Sienna told her to."

I looked at him in surprise. "Who's Sienna, and why does Blaze have to listen to her? I don't think Blaze is the type to listen to anyone."  
The Shinx looks at me. "You're right about that. Blaze has to listen to Sienna because she was Sienna's starter. Starters always have to listen to their Trainers."

"So Sienna is that human over there yelling at me?" I ask, nodding towards the girl.

"Yeah." He nodded. "You should probably acknowledge her. She'll throw a tantrum later."

"Thanks." I said. "You're Lightning, right?"

"Yeah." He smiled. "Good luck!" He waved me away with his tail, padding over to his dropped Pokeball and pushing the button. It sucked him in with a pinging noise.

Resigned, I turned around to face my furious Trainer. She seemed surprised.

"So, you're gonna apologize, right?" She crossed her arms and looked at me.

"You wish." I said, my tone letting her know that wasn't ever going to happen.

"Hey, you owe me!" She frowned. "I saved you from the wilderness. I took you out of all that misery and hardship. The life of a Trainer Pokemon isn't that bad! Blaze? Lightning? Tell her!" She looked around. Blaze moaned softly from the corner and Lightning made no reappearance from his Pokeball.

"Probably wouldn't be very bad if _you _weren't the boss." I muttered. I knew humans couldn't understand me anyway, but it felt good to let the girl know I detested her.

She turned around and glared.

"Don't mutter." She said. "It makes me feel like you're talking about me." She flipped her hair. "Though no one could hate me."

I rolled my eyes. Lightning was so lucky that he had found such a quick escape from this. I knew I'd be stuck out here for a while.

Sienna looked back down into my face and seemed to realize something.

"Oh!" She cried. "You don't have a name!"

I considered it. I never really had had a name. The other Mudkip had never really run into this issue. I was just the youngest one, and we'd mostly just scream at each other until we caught the right one's attention. Thinking on it now, it probably wasn't the best method, but it had always worked. We hadn't known anything other.

I was curious beside myself to see if the name she would give me was worth responding to. So as I looked into her eyes, and she looked into mine, I didn't look away.

Then she stood back up, snapping her fingers together. "I got it!" She looked at me, a broad smile decorating her face. "I'll call you Gray! Cause of your eyes!"  
I thought about the name, passing it back and forth in my mind. Gray… Yes, it could work. It was a lot better than the other things she could come up with.

I smiled, but quickly glared as she aimed the water-drop Pokeball at my face.

"Don't-" I cried, but it wasn't fast enough. I was sucked into the tiny capsule with hardly more than a whisper.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Val smiled to himself as he walked along, his Absol pacing next to him loyally. Soon, very soon, he and his starter would take on the first gym leader in the region. They would be at the Pokemon League in no time.

Val smirked, remembering Sienna, his neighbor he'd had since he was a child. Together, they'd wanted to be Pokemon Trainers. After all, she hadn't been half-bad when she was younger. The Zigzagoons would take food from her and the Pidgeys would like to chirp and land on her shoulders. In fact, all Pokemon had loved her. The memory even made him kind of sad, even now. Sometimes he would talk to the Pokemon when he was younger, and they did like his small town.

And as Sienna grew, she started taking charge. Silk, Sienna's household Pokemon was miserable with it. Sienna would order around every Pokemon in her mother's team every day, claiming she was just practicing to be a Trainer. Val smiled darkly. It took much more than that to be a Trainer. Val remembered Sienna's mother's Skitty. It had always been Sienna's friend. Now, it definitely wasn't. In fact, Val was pretty sure that Delcatty hated Sienna now. Even since it evolved, it would slide out its claws and hiss whenever Sienna got near it. Poor Silk.

Sienna was probably going to be trying to eventually take on the Pokemon League, but he bet she would be useless at it. She was useless at everything. He'd get their first. He was better than she was. He was going to beat her. He was going to win.

He'd always win.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Sienna dropped the Pokeball into her bag and promptly dropped _that_ on the floor, leaning backwards, spread-eagled onto her friend's bed, staring up at the ceiling. Aqua was going to be furious. Sienna sighed, wondering what Aqua would do. Why were her Pokemon always so explosive and angry? Well, except for Lightning. He was always gentle. Blaze was always mad, and every other Pokemon that she'd tried to catch fled without a backward glance.

The front door to the house opened, and Sienna sighed. Aqua was right on time, as usual. She checked her Poketch. Two exactly.

The door to the room she was laying in opened, and Aqua came in.

"Hey Sienna, I'm back from the-" Aqua cut off. "What happened here?!"

Sienna took a look around the room again. The carpet was soaked, the ceiling dripping, and a fair-sized dent was where Blaze had hit the wall. Yup, Aqua was going to be _very _angry. Sienna sat up.

"Sienna, what have you done?!" Aqua entered the room fully; a Chatot perched on her shoulder and a Charmander following hesitantly behind her. "My room is a _mess. _My parents are going to kill me!"

"You're parents aren't here." Sienna pointed out. "We have all the time in the world to clean this up."

"They're coming home _today_." Aqua yelled. "You've got to get out of here!"

"I don't see why…" Sienna trailed off uselessly, knowing any argument was useless. "They know who I am."

"_And _they hate you." Aqua stopped yelling, but she was just as irritated. "I'll use Flame's help to get this place dried off. You just need to get out."

Sienna stood. "Fine…" She started shuffling towards the door, remembering to pick up her bag on the way out.

Aqua shoved her faster, pushing her out the front door.

"Don't be so down." She said, faster than Sienna would have imagined possible. "Take this and go. Feel free to stop by some other time; you just can't spend the night. I'm always happy to have you!"

The Chatot squawked angrily as the door slammed closed. Aqua shushed it so fast Sienna couldn't catch what it might have been saying. She looked down at the book that Aqua had shoved into her hand just before the door closed. It was white, with "Trainering for Dummies!" written across the top and bottom in bold black lettering. In the middle, a misshapen Pikachu drawn in crayon was smiling.

Sienna stared down at it disbelievingly. Did Aqua think she was this stupid? She was about to throw the book in the gutter when something held her back, forcing her to drop the unwanted object in her bag instead. Read? Her? A stupid book like that? Maybe later…

Her feet automatically took her to the Pokemon Center. The sliding glass doors opened, and Sienna walked directly up to the counter, sliding Blaze's Pokeball across and into the hands of Nurse Joy, who looked slightly surprised. Several people who had been waiting behind her muttered in complaint. One said something extremely rude, and was probably flipping the bird at her right now. Sienna ignored it all.

"Here, Nurse Joy. I'm afraid Blaze isn't in the best of shape right now." She said, unphased.

"Oh! Sienna! I'm afraid there's a line behind you, and…"

Sienna cut her off. "Blaze. She's hurt. Here. See you later."

There was a ping and a gasp, and the nurse's hand shot out, grabbing Sienna's shoulder and holding her back.

"Sienna!" Nurse Joy exclaimed. "This is _not good. _Your Flareon is seriously beat up!"

Sienna turned around. "I know!" She retorted. "That's why I brought her to you!"

"You need to bring her to me before you reach this state!" Nurse Joy, unafraid, didn't back down. Her eyes blazed angrily, and to be honest, Sienna was a little edgy.

"Sorry?" She tried. Nurse Joy was unamused. She gestured towards the Fainted Pokemon.  
"Look at Blaze and tell me she is only a little hurt." Joy demanded.

Sienna looked at Blaze.

The Flareon's tail twitched, her eyes and mouth open. Her legs were sprawled out at an unnatural angle, eyes glazed over and cloudy. The best part was she was still wet.

"Umm…" Sienna stammered. "She might be a little more hurt than I anticipated…"  
Nurse Joy sighed. "You're a lost cause. Just leave."  
The nurse shoved Sienna out the door. "Come back at dusk to pick up your Flareon."

Sienna stood outside the Pokemon Center, feeling a little lost without her starter. She sighed, figuring that now was just as good as any, if not better, to go and train up her new Pokemon. Of course, they'd probably hate her for it, but what else was new?

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

There was nothing stranger than a Pokeball.

I opened my eyes, my words of protest dying as I looked around.

Nope, nothing stranger.

The grass was short and bristly, poking my feet. The sun was hot overhead, making my skin feel dry and rough.

All at once, I suddenly wished for the shady, cool marshes that I had been born in. The bout of homesickness overcame me in a wave of nausea, making me collapse, my face falling against the grass in painful prickles.

Then it was gone. All the pain was gone. I looked up, blinking the grass away from my eyes. The ground beneath me was soft, lush grass. Above, large, waxy leaves shaded me in a sort of den from the hot sun. I pushed through the side and stumbled my way into a small marsh, full of cool mud and pools of water interspersed with reeds and thick grass.

The homesickness was still there, but it had faded enough for me to wander around. I waded up to my cheeks in the mud, it reminding me of home so much I could cry. But I didn't. I don't know how long I sat there, but it was comforting. Nothing else seemed as real and as nice as this moment here, which I didn't want to leave behind. Then, there was a sort of instinct, so strong and so directing, I suddenly stood up; dragging myself to sit in a pool of water so the mud was gone. Then I pulled myself out and away from the marsh, sitting tiredly on the banks, quietly waiting for something to happen. I didn't know what it was, but I was ready for it.

There was a ping, and my vision went black. When it cleared I was standing in front of Sienna, in a ready position. I quickly relaxed and sat down, the sights and feelings of the Pokeball confusing me the more I thought about them. So I didn't. I looked up to face Sienna again.

"Hi Gray." She muttered. "We've got to get some Training done today."

I cocked my head. Train for what?  
"My mom told me the best way to Train was to find some other Trainers. I figured that I should first figure out what you can do. Than maybe I'll consider getting up."

I rolled my eyes at her, but inside, I still had a concern. Train for what? What could be so drastic that I needed to Train to do it?  
Sienna started talking. "Ugh. Nurse Joy yelled at me when I brought Blaze to the Pokemon Center. She said Blaze was beat up pretty bad." She scowled. "And she didn't let me get a word in edgewise to say the damage had been done in one blow. By you."  
I smiled, proud of myself. Nobody could get away with randomly attacking _me._

"And you know what Aqua did?" Sienna sat up, rummaging in her bag. "She shoved me out of her house and gave me this on my way out…" She shuffled around some more. "Ugh! Where is it?!" Than she sat up, clutching a small white book. "See?" She threw it down on the grass so I could see. "Isn't it awful?!"

I looked down at the book, flipping it around so I could see it right. A crudely drawn Pikachu was in the middle, smiling its disfigured smile, while bold black lines arranged in odd patterns were displayed boldly across the top and bottom.

"It says, "_Trainering for Dummies" _Sienna said miserably. "Aqua must think I'm so stupid."  
Couldn't have said it better myself. Though the book _was _relatively thick; I couldn't imagine how many important things this book would have to say. The Pikachu was bothering me, so I took one wet foot and placed it directly on its misshapen face, smearing the waxy material it was drawn with. Hooray.

Sienna groaned. "I haven't even opened it yet!"  
Allow me. I pushed open the cover of the book. The first page was covered in purplish, loopy, lines.

Sienna gasped, snatching the book out from under me and making me land face-first in the grass. "It's a note from Aqua!" She exclaimed. I glared at her as I got up, spitting out bits of grass.

"Dear Sienna," She read aloud. "Sorry for giving this book such a shaming, stupid, hastily-made cover. I was testing you, I guess. Yeah, I hope you'll forgive me for that, too. Oops. Now I can't scratch that out, either- oh never mind. Anyway, this is one of the most official, helpful, most amazing books for Trainers out there. I know you don't like to read. Believe me, I know that- but if you read one book for the rest of your life, let it be this one. It will help you so much- so much. You have no idea just how much it will. Read it from cover to cover and no doubt you will have improved beyond recognition. I have faith in you! Aqua."

Sienna eyed the book doubtfully. "Read?" She asked aloud. If I could reach my face, I would have face-palmed.

She hesitantly turned the page, and her whole face lit up. "A table of contents!"  
For not liking to read, I wouldn't think she would be so happy about that.

"Let's see…" She smiled. "There are sections about Training, Bonding, Catching, Battling, Breeding…" I froze at that one. "…even Contests!" I sighed with relief. But what was this about Battling?  
I laid down on the grass as Sienna continued to prattle off in her book. I was so interested, I fell asleep.

**Amazing, right? For some explanation- this is in the past-tense, yes, and it's supposed to be like our Mudkip friend is telling the story from in the future, so that's why she knows the name of some stuff. Or, if you don't like that idea, she has had years of knowledge passed down through the Mudkip generations. :3 New chapter should come out soon enough, but I've really got to update my other stuff. People get impatient. Since I'm now trying to beat the elite four on DP with seriously under-leveled Pokemon that I'm too lazy to level up- I've always got Pokemon on the brain. It might not be the healthiest thing, but it sure helps me write! :D **


End file.
